China part 3 – Shanghai 3/24-3/26

Shanghai! Woooo!


Friday
We left our hotel in Suzhou at about 11:30 to catch a 1-hour commuter train to Shanghai. The commuter trains in China are nothing like those in Japan, or NY, or DC, or anywhere else for that matter. They are huge. I have no idea how long the train was; but it was freakin’ long. Each car had two stories, and they were all packed. We had reserved seats however, unlike in Japan, that didn’t mean anything to the locals who had boarded the train before us and claimed our seats. As we stood in the aisles with all of our luggage, we watched Anthony have very heated arguments with the people and eventually win us our seats back. It was the first and only time I saw Anthony lose his patience.

I passed the journey by reading my book and occasionally looking out the window. The train was dirty, smelly and hot. Where I used to be so aware of my surroundings and my environment, now I seem to have adopted the Japanese way of creating a bubble around myself to get through unpleasant, crowded moments (really, only those of you in Japan know what I’m talking about here).

Anyway, we finally arrived in Shanghai and we all took a number of taxis to our hotel to check-in and get ready for a walking tour of the city. We walked for about 3 hours through crowded shopping streets; along The Bund and the riverside with its unique skyline; through alleyways and markets bustling with local people and children; and into the trendy French Concession, with its cozy cafes and expensive restaurants, which provided a stark contrast to the other parts of China we saw. Anthony told us that if Beijing is like visiting China’s past, Shanghai is visiting the future. I’d have to agree with that. Here are some pictures from the walking tour.
Nanjing Road - the biggest commercial street in Shanghai

Skyline again. I like this picture cause the people look huge.

European-style architecture on The Bund - these buildings used to be American, Japanese and European banks and consulates before Communism

The group. Interesting mix, eh?

Typical alleyway of housing for Shanghai locals

Nanjing Road by night



After the tour, we were all pretty wiped out and very hungry, so we headed to a restaurant for a group dinner. It was during meals that the obnoxious, borderline alcoholic Ozzie woman was at her worst, and Kate and I ended up at her table. So even though the food was great, the atmosphere was quite strained, and I struggled to keep my mouth shut (you know me…).

Anyway, we wanted to take a night cruise on the river to see the city lit up, but we missed the boat. Instead, most of the group went to get Chinese foot massages. I, however, think foot massages are kind of gross and I had grown quite tired of the eclectic group, so I took a long walk back to the hotel and eventually retired to the room for some peace.

Saturday
On our last day in Shanghai, we met at 9:30am and walked to the Shanghai Museum. The museum is funded by the government, so it’s absolutely gorgeous, but in my experience a bit small for a national museum. Kate and I took about an hour and a half to peruse the exhibits of Chinese minority clothing and tools; artwork; furniture; jewelry and a dazzling exhibit of treasures from the Forbidden City. We then hit the museum store where Kate bought stuff like it was going out of style, and I didn’t buy anything (which I now regret a bit).
Outside of Shanghai Museum


We had the afternoon free, so we had originally planned to visit the two major markets – one for Chinese souvenirs and the other for designer knockoff goods. We got a bit lost on the walk from the museum, so we arrived at the Chinese souvenir market hungry, hot and a bit cranky. Since it was a Saturday, the place was absolutely swarmed with people. We searched in vain for a restaurant to sit down and have some lunch in, but no to avail. We settled on a McDonalds, which was, believe it or not, standing room only. After a less-than-satisfying standing-up chicken nugget lunch, we attempted to brave the crowds and bargain with the shopkeepers but ultimately our hearts weren’t in it, so we left. (This means none of you will be getting postcards or souvenirs in the mail, sorry). Instead of facing the same situation at the knockoff market, we walked to The Bund where we sat in the sunshine on the riverside and talked and relaxed for a bit.
Chinese Souvenir Market. I took this picture on Friday, when it wasn't packed. By Saturday, this entire road was filled with shoppers.


Before dinner we met with some of the group members and took the night cruise of the river which was quite gorgeous. The European style buildings on The Bund were lit up majestically on the left side and the right side was the more modern, Asian style architecture with dancing fluorescent lights and the Pearl TV Tower.


We headed off to the French Concession where we were to have our final group dinner. Anthony had chosen this restaurant with a completely random American Indian theme and a random band of a Chinese man and woman with keyboard guitars (yes, keyboard guitars!) covering famous American music from about 10 years ago. It was amusing, to say the least. Again, dinner was awesome and we even got two mini kegs of Budweiser (not enough beer for the Ozzie woman though). As the night wore on, group members started leaving to pack and rest up for our respective busy departure days. We had an early morning ahead of us, so Kate and I left around 11. We bid adieu to our awesome leaders and to the three people we liked (ahem), grabbed a taxi to the hotel, showered, packed and slept for about 6 hours.
Our leaders, Dragon, Howard and Anthony


Sunday
On Sunday morning, we woke up at 6am to begin the voyage back to Japan. We hopped on the subway at 6:30 in order to catch the first Mag Lev train in the morning. For those of you who don't know, the Mag Lev train from central Shanghai to the International Airport is the fastest train in the world. Maxing at a speed of 431 km/hr (268 mph), it takes about 8 minutes to get to the airport – a distance that takes 90 minutes to drive in good traffic. It was an exciting end to an exciting trip… when is Tokyo gonna get one of those.





Phew, now do I win the award for blogger of the year? Thank goodness for spring vacation at school, or this entire trip would be summed up with a paragraph and five pictures...